Buddha said: "Sariputra! I predict one day you will become a Buddha by the name of Pamaprabha. You will come to this world again to save all living beings and achieve the highest state of Buddhahood."

The Buddha describes the arahant as having transcended ‘the round of birth and death, they have destroyed the taints, lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the ultimate goal, destroyed the fetters and become completely free, liberated through final knowledge’ (Majjhima Nikaya 1. 141).

aylmert wrote:Buddha said: "Sariputra! I predict one day you will become a Buddha by the name of Pamaprabha. You will come to this world again to save all living beings and achieve the highest state of Buddhahood."

It is a Mahayana text, not a Pali Canon text. In other words, it reflects a much later doctrinal notion of the Mahayanists

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond.SN I, 38.

Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireas na daoine.People live in one another’s shelter.

---The trouble is that you think you have time------Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe------It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---

Though Sariputra could not see, he could still hear. He then thought: "It is difficult to save all beings and be a Bodhisattva. I think I'd better concentrate on the practice of self-salvation!" Just then many devas appeared in the sky. They said to Sariputra: "Don't be dejected. What has just happened is merely our arrangement to test your determination to practise the way of a bodhisattva. You should bravely progress and continue your practice."

Then,

As a chief disciple of the Buddha, I should also enter Nirvana before Buddha."So he asked the Buddha's permission to enter Nirvana first. After some explanation, he finally got the Buddha's consent and they prepared to return to his hometown to enter Nirvana. Buddha said: "Sariputra! I predict one day you will become a Buddha by the name of Pamaprabha. You will come to this world again to save all living beings and achieve the highest state of Buddhahood."

Now, Is Ven. Sariputta an Arahant or a Bodhisattva? To enter Nirvana, we need to ask permission from the Buddha? What if the Buddha says No? I thought after attaining Arahantship, one will never crave to reborn in samsara world again.

Though Sariputra could not see, he could still hear. He then thought: "It is difficult to save all beings and be a Bodhisattva. I think I'd better concentrate on the practice of self-salvation!" Just then many devas appeared in the sky. They said to Sariputra: "Don't be dejected. What has just happened is merely our arrangement to test your determination to practise the way of a bodhisattva. You should bravely progress and continue your practice."

Then,

As a chief disciple of the Buddha, I should also enter Nirvana before Buddha."So he asked the Buddha's permission to enter Nirvana first. After some explanation, he finally got the Buddha's consent and they prepared to return to his hometown to enter Nirvana. Buddha said: "Sariputra! I predict one day you will become a Buddha by the name of Pamaprabha. You will come to this world again to save all living beings and achieve the highest state of Buddhahood."

Now, Is Ven. Sariputta an Arahant or a Bodhisattva? To enter Nirvana, we need to ask permission from the Buddha? What if the Buddha says No? I thought after attaining Arahantship, one will never crave to reborn in samsara world again.

This is all just very much later Mahayana stuff which has not a thing to do with the Theravada. It is Mahayana stuff that is designed to make the older forms of Buddhism look bad.

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond.SN I, 38.

Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireas na daoine.People live in one another’s shelter.

Now, Is Ven. Sariputta an Arahant or a Bodhisattva? To enter Nirvana, we need to ask permission from the Buddha? What if the Buddha says No? I thought after attaining Arahantship, one will never crave to reborn in samsara world again.

This is all just very much later Mahayana stuff which has not a thing to do with the Theravada. It is Mahayana stuff that is designed to make the older forms of Buddhism look bad.

Besides that, it is just pure bunk. Anyone who can't muster enough insight to see through that deserves to be subject to psychological programming.

Anyone who would seriously think that he needs the permission of Gotama to "enter nirvana" (whatever that means to the observer), has just lost total control of their own mind. This is NOT what Gotama teaches. The Pali canon provides a more reasonable and accurate portrayal of what Gotama taught. Stick with that and you will be okay.